Improvement in bustles



'3. SMITH. & 0-. LQSMITH.

Improvement in Bustles. No. 130,446. Patented'Aug.13,1872.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SHERMAN SMITH AND DANIEL L. SMITH, OF SKOWHEGAN, MAINE.

IMPROVEMENT IN BUSTLES.

' Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 130,443, dated August 13, 1872.

Specification describing a new and useful Improvement in Bustles, invented by SHER- MAN SMITH and DANIEL L. SMITH, of Showhega-n, in the county of Somerset and State of Maine.

In the apparatus which is the subject of our invention the horizontal ribs for swelling or bulging out the dress are supported on one, two, three, or more strong ribs or stays projecting from the waistband and curving downward, and at the waistband they bend downward, so as to extend along the back of the wearer a sufficient distance to constitute a rest for a brace for the upper projecting portions. The arrangement of this brace adjustably both on the upper and lower parts of the stays, or either of them, so as to be adjusted to hold the projecting stays higher or lower, and the apparatus for adjusting, comprises our invention.

Figure l is a transverse sectional elevation of our improved bustle. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the stays, braces, and the strap for adjusting said braces. Fig. 3 is a top view.

Similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts.

A is the waist-belt. B is the upper projecting part of a stay. 0 is the part extending downward to bear against the back of the wearer. D is the brace, and E is the adjusting strap. This brace D is so shaped that a part, F, at each end is arrangedfor a suitable length parallel with the part of the stay it is to be connected with, and it is connected therewith by a clip, G, which is capable of sliding lengthwise on the stay or toward and from the waistband, and either one or both ends are connected with the waistband by the aforesaid strap and an adjusting buckle, so that it can be held at any distance therefrom to which it may be adjusted to vary the height of the part B, and the projection of it, so that the prominence of the dress imparted by the bustle may be varied at will.

WVe do not limit ourselves to the form or construction of the clips by which the braces are connected to the stays, but we prefer the form represented in drawing, which consists of a piece of sheet metal with two transverse slits on each side extending nearly to the center,

' with the parts between the slits and the ends bent around the brace to fasten to it, and the parts between the slits bent around the lower member of the stay, as shown. The said stays are made of two ribs, the horizontal ribs being secured to the upper one and the aforesaid braces to the lower one, said lower rib being free of obstruction to allow the brace-connection to slide.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination, with the stay B O, of an adjustable brace, D, the said brace being adjustable either at one or both ends, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with said stay and adjustable brace, of an adjusting-strap, E, and buckle at one orboth ends of the brace, substantially as specified. I

SHERMAN SMITH. DANIEL L. SMITH.

Witn csses HIRAM KNow ToN, WILLIAM J. KNowLToN. 

